


Little Things like Loving You

by crazygirlne



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 07:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13406811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazygirlne/pseuds/crazygirlne
Summary: Superhero AU. Flash, Legends, and Arrow teams are all in Central City, and they’re all the good guys, depending who you ask. The White Canary’s sort of got a thing for Captain Cold. Leonard Snart’s sort of got a thing for Sara Lance. It’s too bad neither one knows who the other is once the mask is gone…





	Little Things like Loving You

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I used parts of canon, parts of just fun superhero verse things. I had fun with this, and it’s meant to be fun and a little tropey. Go with me here, or go find something serious ;) Loosely inspired by Miraculous Ladybug.

Central City has more than its share of superheroes. Some, like the Flash, are almost nauseatingly  _ good. _ The Atom is one of those, too. On the other end of the spectrum are those better termed as vigilantes, like the Green Arrow and Captain Cold; they do what they need to get the job done, and while neither usually takes lives anymore, there’s a lot about their methods that makes people uncomfortable.

Sara, as the White Canary, is somewhere in the middle.

Okay, well, she started on the vigilante side of things, and she’s probably firmly on the hero side now. She thinks of herself as in the middle, though, which is why it comes as a surprise when the Flash pulls her aside one day after they’ve successfully sent another unruly meta to Iron Heights.

It’s not the fact that he pulls her aside that’s a shock, really. He likes basically everyone who’s not trying to kill him. Hell, she’s pretty sure he likes some of them, too. It’s not the first time she’s chatted with him after a fight, but it’s the first time he’s looked so concerned.

“Do you know who he is?” the younger man asks (he has to be younger, with the way he acts). 

“Who?” Sara is, admittedly, a little distracted, watching Captain Cold salute her with a smirk before he saunters off. He’d been a big help, as he often is, and he’s great at returning her banter, which… Oh. “You mean…”

The Flash merely looks at her like they’re both being obvious, and she supposes he’s right.

“No,” she answers. “I don’t know who he is.”

“Well I do, and he knows me,” the Flash answers, and Sara can’t help the grin that tugs at her lips; Captain Cold has more nicknames for the Flash than anyone else, and he knows the kid’s real identity? The guy’s the best kind of ass. “I’m not…” He seems unsure what to say, and Sara raises an eyebrow, glad her white eye mask doesn’t cover too much of her face. “Okay, I’m not trying to warn you away or anything. He’s a good guy, but you know you two have very different reputations.”

Now it’s a scowl Sara’s trying to fight. “Are you telling me to stay away from him? He did just help save our asses.”

The Flash’s eyes widen. “What? No! I mean, yes, but not…” He exhales forcefully and closes his eyes for a moment. “I mean he may come across as one of the iffier good guys, and you don’t. I don’t want to see him get hurt if you two keep acting like you did today and then you decide he’s not good enough.”

Sara’s silent for a few long seconds. “Do you know who I am under this mask?” She waits for him to shake his head, though she makes a note of the way his eyes dart away from her first,  _ almost _ too quickly to see. “If you don’t know me, how can you say whether I give a damn how much he walks in the light? You don’t know what I’ve done, before I started doing this. It’s what we do  _ now  _ that matters. It’s trying our best. And nothing I’ve seen from Captain Cold makes me think he’s doing anything less than you or me.”

The man hangs his head for a moment before looking back at her. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He rubs his neck in a way that registers as familiar. “I’m being overprotective of a friend who’s had a lot of bad happen to him. Forgive me?”

She takes a breath, then nods. “Sure thing, Scarlet,” she says, using one of Cold’s favorite nicknames, just to watch the kid blush. “This has been great and all, but I gotta run.”

“Uh, yeah. Me, too.” He turns away, then looks over his shoulder. “Sorry again, Sara,” he says before flashing away in a streak of lightning.

Well, shit.

***

Sara sets aside the fact that the Flash knows who she is, deciding she can worry about that later. Safe in her apartment, she strips off her disguise and slips into something that’s soft and comfortable, with just enough clinginess that she still feels attractive. She heads out only a few minutes later.

There’s a get together at STAR Labs that night. It’s a pretty common occurrence. Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin work there, and between their friends and their friends’ friends, sometimes it seems like half the city ends up coming. They’re not technically parties, but probably only because most of them are geeks of some variety.

Which just means the alcohol ends up going along with Star Wars or Star Trek marathons.

Tonight, they’re watching some French superhero anime, but Sara isn’t as into it as she’d usually be, focused instead on identities, secret and otherwise.

She’s not stupid. She knows like often attracts like, and she could guess the alter egos of more than a few of her extended friend group. Some, Sara even knows for sure, like Oliver Queen (she dated him before either of them got into this whole thing). There’s also the dead giveaway that is Harrison Wells (pun intended; he goes by “Harrison Wells” for his alter ego, and because Harrison Wells is officially dead, everyone thinks it’s just a cover), and through him and his impossible-to-miss adoration of Caitlin Snow, she knows who Killer Frost is. 

This means she knows it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that she knows Captain Cold, but she’s never really let herself stop to think about it, not until that talk with the Flash today.

The Flash, who also knows who  _ she _ is. And who Captain Cold is.

Sara sighs, bringing her bottle of beer to her lips. She hears footsteps, and she relaxes as Leonard Snart slides down the wall across from her in the narrow hallway.

“Rough night?” he drawls. He pulls out a deck of cards, dealing automatically. Sara wouldn’t say she knows him  _ well, _ but she knows him well enough to actively enjoy his company. This is something they do regularly, when the rest of the group gets to be a little too much or they just want some down time.

Something in her uncoils more just from having the friendly ear. “Something like that.” She hesitates, picking up her cards without really seeing them. “Do you ever wonder who people really are?”

He raises an eyebrow at her. “Do you mean metaphorically or literally?”

“Literally, I think.” She sighs. “A lot of people in this town wear masks, and I guess sometimes I wish everything was out in the open.”

Leonard’s lips twitch. “You could still be talking metaphorically. If you’re not…” His tone grows speculative. “I thought Iris was the reporter. Are you trying to track down the identities of Central City’s finest superheroes?”

“Maybe.” She focuses long enough to toss out a card. “I was talking about it with someone today, wondering who Captain Cold was.”

This seems to take Leonard genuinely by surprise, though he hides it quickly. “Oh? Do tell.”

Sara considers her words. “He’s different from the rest of them, you know? He’s still a good guy, but it’s like… I’m not sure whether he thinks about himself that way. Something about the way he brushes off the thanks anytime we— Uh, anytime he saves someone.”  _ Good catch, Sara. _ “And someone mentioned… I think he could use more people in his life who have his back. But I don’t even know who he is!”

“I think that’s the point of a secret identity.”

“Shut up,” Sara huffs, ignoring Leonard’s satisfied grin. “The point I’m trying to make is, I guess, how do you help someone when you don’t even know who they are? These people help us, and we can’t do anything for them.”

Leonard watches his cards thoughtfully. “I don’t think I ever thought of it like that,” he says finally, playing a card of his own. “I think we’ve just gotta hope that, whoever they are, they have someone in their other life who they can do the little things with. Like play cards.” He’s not looking at her as he says this, watching the cards between them instead, and Sara lets a smile grace her lips. 

“Yeah,” she says. “I guess you’re right.”

They play a few more hands before rejoining their friends. The group is loud, rowdier than usual. Barry notices her and Leonard enter the room, and he nods before rubbing his neck and turning to look at Iris. The familiar gesture clicks, and Sara grins. Leonard seems to notice, watching as if waiting for an explanation, but Sara just shakes her head.

She’s not sure how Barry Allen ever managed to keep his identity a secret, but since he has, she’s not gonna be the one to ruin it for him.

The rest of the gathering is fun, and she’s completely exhausted by the time she gets home, far too late for someone who has a full-time job on top of being a superhero. That night, she dreams of Captain Cold and his parka, and that knowing smirk, and when he pushes away his goggles, the startling intensity of his eyes wakes her.

***

A few days later, she’s perched on a rooftop with Captain Cold. They’re doing reconnaissance, trying to narrow down the location of a new villain’s hideout. 

“I always figured you’d like heights,” he says after a few minutes of comfortable silence, “what with being named after a bird and all.”

Sara looks at him, assessing. Whereas she’s sitting comfortably enough on the outer ledge of the building, Cold is leaning against it. His posture is casual enough, and she hadn’t picked up on it before he said anything. Now that he has, though, she can compare how he is now to how he is when they have to go into actual combat.

Captain Cold doesn’t like heights, but he’s here anyway. Huh.

She shrugs a shoulder before spinning around so she’s facing him rather than the street. “Never bothered me, not even as a kid. When I started doing this, I figured out it was pretty useful, finding a perch.” She studies him, remembering her dream from earlier in the week, but she can’t see through his tinted goggles at all. “What color are your eyes?”

He tilts his head at her. “That question came out of nowhere.”

“Not really. I just had a dream that— Shit.” She stops at his intrigued look, not sure how to explain why she might’ve been dreaming about him without digging herself deeper into a hole. “Can we forget I asked?”

He considers for a moment. “If you insist.”

“Thanks.” They fall into a companionable silence, which he breaks some time later, when it’s getting dark.

“Not many people know anything about me besides the fact that I look fantastic in a parka.”

In the dimming light, Sara can’t even see as much of him as she could earlier. She can’t really make out his expression. They’re gonna need to call this surveillance over with soon. She suspects he knows it, has a hunch he’ll leave after he’s said whatever he needs to.

“Not many people  _ want _ to know more than that,” he continues. He’s looking out over the alley. “My old man was an asshole who used to tell me I’d never amount to a thing. And maybe I’m not the Flash, and maybe nobody knows who I am outside of this getup, but I like to think that Captain Cold, at least, makes a difference.”

Sara’s quiet as she thinks about how to respond. She’s not sure why the recent conversation with Leonard comes to mind, but it seems to fit well enough. “I bet you make a difference as yourself, too, under the parka. Someone told me the other day that maybe the way normal people can help is just by being there, sharing the little things.”

He looks at her, and she’s not sure she’s ever wished so much that she could see his expression better under the goggles.

“Thanks,” he says, his voice rough, catching on the single word. “Well,” he continues, changing his tone abruptly to something light, “I guess we should call it a bust for today. Same place tomorrow if Team Flash hasn’t figured anything out by then?”

“You got it,” she answers, standing and walking along the ledge toward the fire escape while he makes his way toward the stairs. He looks toward her before he opens the door. “Cold,” she says, making it sound like an affectionate goodbye. 

“Canary,” he echoes in the same manner. With a little smile, she turns away, and she almost misses his parting words. “My eyes are blue, usually. Sometimes they’re green.”

By the time she turns back around, he’s disappeared through the door and out of sight.

***

Sara fights an irrational surge of disappointment when she gets a text on her secret phone during work the next day:  _ Found him, don’t need you and Cold to stake out tonight. -Flash _

She hides the phone and drums her fingers. She’s known for a while that she likes Captain Cold. She enjoys his company, enjoys the banter, and though his body and face are mostly hidden, his voice alone is enough to convince her of potential for physical attraction. They don’t work together quite regularly enough to be called partners (besides, he tends to reserve that term for Heatwave), but she does think they’re friends. It probably isn’t a surprise, then, that she’s disappointed she doesn’t get to spend time with him when she expected to.

A few hours later, though, she gets another message:  _ Something going down tonight, need your help, if you meant what you said about Captain Cold. -Flash _

She frowns, not sure what to make of the message, but quickly agrees and sets up a place and time. The rest of the day drags, and by the time she meets the Flash in a wide, deserted alleyway, she feels like she’s earned a little fun.

“So,” she says after making sure they’re alone, “what was with the cryptic message, Barry?”

“Sorry about that. I… Wait, how did…” When he rubs his neck, Sara has to laugh.

“You’ve got tells.” She gestures to his hand, and he pulls his hand away from his neck, looking at it like it betrayed him, then pushing the cowl away from his face.

“Okay, well, that actually makes this a lot easier, ‘cause I need you to trust me.” He looks at her, gaze earnest, waiting until she nods. “Me and Cold, we’re gonna pretend we’re rogue elements. Or at least, he’s going to pretend he went bad. I’ll just be part of his crew, going by the name of Sam.”

“I don’t know if anyone’s gonna buy you as a bad guy,  _ Sam. _ ”

Barry lifts his chin. “I can sell it if I need to. Anyway, we’re gonna get better information that way, see if we can take these guys out without anyone getting hurt.”

“Your cowl’s down, Barry.” Captain Cold makes his entrance dramatic, as usual, and he sounds completely unconcerned as he strolls into the alley, cold gun at his side. “Canary,” he says cordially, pasting on a grin and aiming it at her.

She rolls her eyes. “I figured it out before he showed me.”

“So did I,” Cold brags, and there’s the more familiar smirk.

“Can we get down to business,” Barry protests, “and save the weird flirting you two do for later?”

“Whatever you say, Scarlet,” Cold answers, still watching Sara, “but you should probably cover back up before anyone else wanders in and gets the wrong idea.”

Barry complies with a huff, and they get down to business. Sara pays enough attention to the plan, but there’s also a part of her that’s busy wondering…

If Barry knows Captain Cold as well as it seems, does that mean that Captain Cold is one of their friends?

***

Sara’s part is easy. The White Canary will monitor and play backup in case the guys get stuck. They’re not planning to fight at all tonight, if all goes well. Barry just wanted backup, just in case, someone who wouldn’t think Cold had actually gone bad. She can’t actually see into the warehouse, but they’ve got a comms system for just the three of them, and she knows what code words to listen for. 

It goes smoothly enough. They get most of the information they need, probably enough to figure out the rest, and Sara watches as “Sam” and Captain Cold leave the building. She’s relatively well hidden in the alley, despite her white outfit, but she still sees Cold’s eyes flicker to her location with ease. He freezes, and she spins around on instinct, stopping a blow from behind just before it’s too late.

There’s a quick scuffle, and then she, Barry, and Cold leave before they can attract any more attention. Once they’re alone on a rooftop, Barry looks at her and Captain Cold. 

“I’m gonna take what we got back to my team,” he says before considering Sara for a moment. “I’ll ask them if you can know who they are. They probably won’t mind, and that makes everything easier.”

It rubs her wrong that he’s offering this to her but not to the man standing next to her. “Can Cold know, too?” she asks.

Barry grins. “He already knows. He knows who  _ everyone _ is, but he never tells.”

“Not quite  _ everyone, _ Barry,” Cold corrects.

Barry just shakes his head. “Everyone.” On that note, he zooms away, leaving Sara alone with the man in the parka.

“Everyone?” she asks.

“Almost everyone,” he says, but he’s watching her much too closely.

“Me?” She takes a step toward him. She wonders whether she can see his eyes if she gets close enough.

“Hello, Sara.” His voice is quiet, like he’s not sure how she’s going to react, but her name is a caress.

“How do you know who I am?” 

He studies her a moment longer before answering. “I have a thing for you, I guess you could say. I was intrigued, so I paid attention.”

She’s not sure how to take that, exactly. She’s flattered, but plenty of people have been impressed by her alter ego. Sometimes she thinks it’s the neckline. Other times she knows she just kicks ass. “The White Canary is pretty badass,” she says finally.

“Not her,” he corrects immediately. “ _ You. _ Sara.”

She inhales. “You know me.” It’s not a surprise, not really, especially after tonight, but it means… “I know you.” He nods, waiting for her to put it together, but she doesn’t know, she doesn’t…

She…

There’s only one person in her friend group who it makes sense to be, one person who she realizes she desperately wants him to be.

“Leonard?”

He smiles crookedly, a little too relieved to be a smirk. “Guilty.” He pulls his goggles down so they dangle in front of his neck. “Hello, Sara,” he says again when she doesn’t immediately speak.

“Hi, Len,” she says before shaking her head. “Sorry, I can’t…” She sees his expression harden, perhaps expecting whatever sort of rejection Barry was warning her against, and she continues, not taking the time to think through her words, just letting them spill out of her. “No, I don’t know what to say, because I’ve kinda had a thing for you, too, and I thought it was just Captain Cold until I realized I go to those damned parties every month, and I love everyone there, you know, but you’re the one I end up spending time with, and it’s the same out here and…”

She takes a breath when she sees he’s no longer looking defensive. Instead, he looks floored, like he couldn’t have hoped for this.

Or maybe just like he can’t believe she can talk so much in one breath.

She plays his words back through her mind, decides it’s probably the former, and she takes another half step forward, pressing her lips to his before she can change her mind.

It’s not like she got to where she is today without taking some risks, after all, and he  _ did _ say he was into her.

He returns the kiss immediately, leaving little room for doubt or second-guessing, and as they pull each other close, Sara thinks this is probably the start of something pretty super.

***

Central City has more than its share of superheroes. That means that it has more than its share of fans, and these fans tend to notice certain things. They noticed, for instance, that Harrison Wells and Killer Frost were together even before the couple in question did, and they immediately granted them the name “Snowells.” They noticed that the Flash seemed to work out of STAR Labs, and they noticed that the Hood was also the Arrow was also the Green Arrow.

Their fans can roll with these sorts of things.

When they notice that Captain Cold and the White Canary are flirting even more openly, sneaking touches when they aren’t strictly needed, the Captain Canary fans come out of the woodwork.

“It’s a little strange,” Sara says one night when they’re on another rooftop stakeout, “how much they like us together.”

“Not so strange,” Leonard says with a shrug. “We make a pretty good looking couple. Besides, they love talking about how you made me a better person.”

Sara chuckles. “They do like talking about that.”

Below them, someone emerges into the alley. Sara and Leonard both relax when it’s not the person they're watching for. They wait for her to leave.

Once the alley is empty, Leonard speaks again. “It’s true, you know.” He’s looking at her from under his lashes. It’s not fair; he  _ knows _ what that look does to her. “You do make me a better person.”

“Yeah, well,” she says, feeling a little flustered, “you do the same for me, so I think we’re even.”

He grins at her, and she smiles back.

She liked it fine when she enjoyed her time with Captain Cold and when she enjoyed her time with Leonard Snart. Knowing they’re both the same person?

Sara couldn’t be happier.


End file.
